


The One Left Behind

by LadyTabatha



Series: The Golden Deer are a family [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Byleth is having trouble coping with Sothis being gone, Gen, Grief, Hurt/Comfort, Mourning, White Clouds spoilers, no beta we die like Glenn, the Golden Deer are a family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22941487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyTabatha/pseuds/LadyTabatha
Summary: "Tell me about her," Claude said.Byleth blinked. "What?""Tell me about Sothis," he repeated. “I may not have met her, but if you teach me about her, then maybe I can mourn her too. You don’t have to do it alone.”/////Or, Byleth has trouble coping after Sothis is gone, and Claude helps as best he can.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth & Claude von Riegan
Series: The Golden Deer are a family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1648729
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	The One Left Behind

Claude was wandering the monastery at night, unable to sleep, when he saw Byleth sitting on a bench. She looked lost, and he couldn’t blame her. She had, after all, missed five years. A lot had changed.

He sat next to her. “Hey, my friend,” he said, “what’s on your mind?”

“I’m just… thinking. About Sothis. Is that selfish?”

He frowned. “Why would that be selfish?”

“Well… it’s just that we have bigger problems. The Kingdom is in ruins, the Alliance is falling apart, the Empire’s army is still coming, and I’m grieving over someone that no one else has ever met. But that’s why I have to mourn her, because no one else can do it.”

“Tell me about her,” he said.

Byleth blinked. “What?” 

“Tell me about Sothis,” he repeated. “I may not have met her, but if you teach me about her, then maybe I can mourn her too. You don’t have to do it alone.”

She looked at him for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Sothis was… annoying.”

It took all of Claude’s willpower to hold in a snort. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, after all. But his efforts turned out to be unnecessary: Byleth let out a short bark of laughter and shook her head. “That’s a weird way to start, isn’t it? But it’s true. She was always making snarky comments in the back of my head. She hated it when I had to grade things, because she was bored but couldn’t go anywhere. She liked flowers. Lilies were her favorite, especially the pink ones. She was always curious. She snatched at every little piece of information, hoping it would help her remember something about her past.”

Byleth took a deep breath and continued. “She called all the students ‘the little ones.’ And she cared about all of you deeply, just like I did. Sometimes, when I didn’t know what to say, she would help- because students needed advice, needed encouragement, and she could find the right words to give it to them. Marianne-” she shuddered. “Marianne was killed when we were fighting Miklan and his bandits. There was an archer that I didn’t notice, and he got her right in the neck. I knew she was going to die before she even hit the ground. You don’t come back from an injury like that. And Sothis… I didn’t even have to ask. She turned back time enough for me to shove Marianne out of the way, because she was not going to let any of you die.”

She was speaking faster now, more fervently. “When- when Jeralt died, I… I tried to save him. We tried to save him. But it didn’t work. And so she helped me to cope. Do you remember how I locked myself in my room for a week?”

Claude nodded, unable to say anything that might disrupt the flow of the story.

“She was the one who finally convinced me to come out. She gave me time to cry, she gave me time to process, and then she told me to go outside. She told me the little ones needed me.” Byleth started to cry, tears rolling down her cheeks. “She was like the sister I never had. And I lost her just a month after I lost my father. And I know she’s not dead, exactly, but she’s still gone and there’s an empty space in my mind where she used to be. And I miss her. I miss her every time I see my reflection, because the changes remind me that she’s not here anymore.”

She was crying harder now. Claude scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her. She broke down completely and clung to him, sobbing. He pulled her closer and started to stroke her hair, murmuring softly. “Hey, hey. It’s gonna be alright. Not now. Maybe not for a long time. But it will be okay eventually, and we’ll all be right here for you every step of the way.” He took a deep breath. “Jeralt and Sothis were your family, and now they’re gone. But they don’t have to be your only family. The Golden Deer… you’re family to us, you know. So maybe we can be family to you.”

Byleth sat up again and nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“You’re not alone,” he said. “You don’t have to be alone ever again.”


End file.
